Ansal API faces heat for selling green space in Gurgaon

Rajendra Kumar Goel filed the case in NGT in June 2016 against Ansals, claiming illegal selling of land earmarked for green space in the township has been forcing the residents to live in intensely polluted environmentBagish Jha | TNN | February 23, 2017, 08:12 IST

GURUGRAM: An NGT-appointed high-powered committee has indicted the developer of Sushant Lok 3 for illegally selling areas reserved for green belt. The panel has submitted its report to the green court after the latter sought the same in the wake of a plea by a 70-year-old resident.

Evoking Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Indian Constitution, Rajendra Kumar Goel filed the case in NGT in June 2016 against Ansals, claiming illegal selling of land earmarked for green space in the township has been forcing the residents to live in intensely polluted environment, thus denying them their fundamental right to life.

Taking cognizance of the case and after several hearings, the tribunal in January 2017 formed a committee comprising officials from the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change, and Haryana’s government’s department of town and country planning (DTCP) and the district administration.

The committee members — Ajay Mehrotra, representative of the ministry, Sushil Sarwan, sub-divisional magistrate of Gurgaon, Yusuf Mohammed Mansuri, senior town planner of DTCP, and Sanjeev Mann, district town planner — visited Sushant Lok 3 on February 16 and 17.

In its five-page report submitted to NGT three days back, the committee has verified almost all the allegations of the petitioner. The report (a copy of which is with TOI) says the areas under green belt, roads and community sites are less than the prescribed limit of 45%.

The report also mentions that few sites reserved for green area do not exist at all and that some of the area earmarked for green space has been used for site office, transformer rooms, and hutments for security guards and labourers, grocery shop, milk booths and other purposes.

“The petition was against the developer for discreetly polluting the environment by grabbing, encroaching and illegally selling areas meant for parks and green belt, measuring around 90 acres in Sushant Lok-3,” said Goel.

“Such activities are adversely affecting the eco-system and the overall ecology of the area. The developer in connivance with government agencies concerned has compelled the residents of the area to live in deeply polluted environment. It is denying us our right to life,” he added.

Advocate Yatish Goel, the petitioner’s lawyer, said the developer has not received any environmental clearance for the project developed on 200 acres of land. “The developer has made and is still making blatant violation of Haryana local laws and environmental laws, causing huge harm to environment,” he said.

When contacted, Rakesh Goel, senior vice-president (projects), Ansal API, Gurgaon , said, “Since the inception of Sushant Lok, we never had any issues relating to environment and forest, neither we are in receipt of any such notices from the Union environment ministry.”